Rag doll.



4 F. WELLS.

RAG DOLL.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I5, I918.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- F. WELLS.

RAG DOLL. APPLICATION FILED AUG/15.1918.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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' FLORENCE WELLS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAG DOLL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 15, 1918; Serial No. 249,975.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FLoRENon Wnm.s,'a

citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, in the county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rag Dolls; and

I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to'rag dolls,

, out necessitating the sock being cut in an elaborate or complicated manner to produce either the features or the required .contour of the body of the doll.

According to the invention, the up or or web portion ofthe sock is first split ongitudinally to form the two legs of the doll, after which the foot of the sock is cut off at substantially the instep, providing ortions which are subsequently utilized to orm the arms, crotch and head patch. These portions, with the exception of the head patch,

are then attached to the body portion at the proper points after having been stitched, where necessary, to impart the desired shape to them. The feet are next fitted with sole pieces of suitable material, after which the structure is turned inside out, stuffed, and thereafter caught up or athered to form the neck, elbows, knees an ankles. Finally, the head atch and wig are stitched in place and'the rout of the head portions stitched and caught up to form the features.

The invention will be fully understood from a consideration of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figures 1, 2 and 3 are front, rear and side elevations, respectively, of the improved doll; Fig. A is an enlarged view of a sock, showing the location and character of the cuts; and Fi 5 is a view showing the arrangement 0 arts after the various cuts have been ma e and certain of the arts stitched, but before the detached. parts ave been secured to the body of the sock.

cut through longitudinally from front to back, the cut extending a slight distance into the body of the sock and resultin 'in the production of two branches 4 WlllCh ultimately form the legs. The free ends of these branch portions are utilized in producing the feet of the doll, their outer corners 5 pro: jecting slightly outward to define the toe portions.

The entire front portion 3 of the foot of the sock is next cut off at the curved line 6, said line being located approximately at what might be considered the instep. The rear portion of this cut-away part 3 is next cut off at the line 8, after which said rear portion is slit diagonally across, as indicated by'the line 9, thereby providing two parts 10 and 11 which have the shape of elongated triangles, when opened out. The remainder of the part 3 is then slit longitudinally along its middle line 12, producing two similar parts 13 which are subsequently utilized to form the arms, said parts being cut, in turn, along their inner edges and close to the ends thereof to form the hands. The cuts are disposed at an angle to each other, and are of unequal length, as indicatedat 14, resulting in the removal of a small, triangular piece of material. Finally, two short slits 15 are made in the body portion 2 of the sock, one in each side thereof, these slits enabling the inner ends of the arm portions 13 to be inserted through them and fastened in place.

When the various cutting operations above described have been completed, the sock is flattened out in the manner illustrated in Fig. 5, after which the inner edges of the branc es or leg portions 4 are fastened together by a line of stitches 16, and the part 11 then opened out and stitched in place Patented Dec.10 1918.

to close the crotch at the top of said legs or branches. The feet are then fitted with soles 17 made of pasteboard or other suitable material, over which the ends ofthe feet are drawn and to which they are secured. The arm pieces 13 are then provided with rows of stitches 18, which not only serve to fasten their front and rear sides, but also to sha c said pieces to more nearl conformto t e human arm and hand; an after th1s has been done,-their inner ends are inserted throu h' the slots 15 and stitched or other- WlSGL StGIIQd to the body 2 of the sock. The heel portion 19 of the sock. serves as the head of the doll when the parts are disposed in this manner, the butt of the heel forming the face.

The entire structure is then turned inside out to conceal the several seams and, in general, to improve the appearance of the doll, this operation being permitted by reason of the fact that an opening is left at the back of the head of the doll through which the cotton waste or other filling material may be inserted, the opening being produced by cutting off the foot of the sock as above described.

After the doll has been stuffed to the required extent, the lower portions of the edges of-the above mentionedopening are stitched together as at 20, (Fig. 2), leaving open only the upper portion of the said opening which is thereafter closed by the patch 21. The latter is cut from the central portion of the triangular piece 10, and is fastened in )lace by a circular row of stitches 22. he neck of the doll is next defined by wrapping a thread 23 or the like tightly around the doll at the junction of its head and body portions. The doll is then caught up or provided with dents or gathers at the proper points to form the waist line and to define the elbows, knees and ankles, threads 24 being used for this purpose and, for the most part, passing through the doll from front to back or vice versa and knotted at their ends as shown:

Finally, the wig 25 is added, and stitching applied to the face portion of the doll to form the usual features. The wig may be made of strands of colored wool or worsted, and is stitched to the top of the head in some suitable manner. In indicating the features, they are outlined with thread, the ends of the threads being passed through the head and brought out at the back thereof. Thus, the threads 26 and 27, which respectively outline the eyes 28 and mouth 29, are passed through the head in the manner represented in Fig. 3, and are brought out at 30 and 31, being stretched or pulled somewhat in order to indent the features in question. The eyebrows 32 and nostrils 33 may be similarly defined, if desired, but this is not essential.

I claim is my invention:

1. The herein-described method of making rag dolls from socks, which consists in formed;

slitting the web portion of a sock longitudinally to provide a pair of leg members; cutting off the foot of the sock and slitting the cut-off portion longitudinally to provide a pair of arm members; stitching said arms and leg members along their open marginal edges; attaching the arm members to the body of the sock; stufiing the structure thus and wrapping thread tightly around the heel portion of the sock to define the head and neckof the doll.

2. The herein-described method of making rag dolls from socks, which consists in slitting portions of the sock to provide arm and leg members; stitching together the open edges of said members; stufiing the structure thus formed; wrapping thread tightly around the heel portion of the sock to define the head and neck of the doll; and indenting the arm and leg members and the back of the body of the doll to define the elbows, knees, ankles and waist of the doll.

3. The herein-described method of forming features on rag dolls, which consists in.

- back of the body of the doll to define the elbows, knees, ankles and waist of the doll.

6. A stuffed rag doll, made from a sock and having its arms and legs indented to define the elbows, knees and ankles.

7. A stuffed rag doll, made from a sock and having its head formed by the heel of the sock, the front portion of said heel havingfeatures outlined thereon by threads, certain of the threads being passed back through the head to indent the features.

8. A stufied rag doll made from a sock and having leg, body and head portions constituting successive integral continuations of one another and formed, respectively, by the web, body and heel portions of the sock.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

FLORENCE WELLS. 

